disclaim
/dɪsˈkleɪm
/verb [with object]
1Refuse to acknowledge; deny: the school disclaimed any responsibility for his death...
- And while disclaiming responsibility and blaming others, many suffer unnecessarily because of wrong priorities, wrong choices, squandered opportunities.
- He was blamed for a change in directors and a runaway budget though he disclaimed responsibility for either.
- The audit's findings prompted the government to disclaim any responsibility to reimburse the credits and threatened to withdraw the bonds it had issued to the central bank.
Synonyms
deny, refuse to accept, refuse to acknowledge, reject, wash one's hands of
1.1 Law Renounce a legal claim to (a property or title): the earl disclaimed his title...
- The most common examples are the rights of trustees in bankruptcy and liquidators of companies to disclaim certain property under the provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986.
- In the Peerage Act peers were given the option of disclaiming their titles within one year.
- The original beneficiary cannot choose where disclaimed property will go, so a contingent beneficiary must be in place to receive the benefits.
Synonyms
renounce, relinquish, resign, give up, abandon;
repudiate, disown, cast off, discard, abjure, forswear, disavow;
Law disaffirm
Origin
Late Middle English (in legal contexts): from Anglo-Norman French desclamer, from des- (expressing reversal) + clamer 'to claim' (see claim).